


Tales of Tiny Galvatron

by Spoonsie2



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Decepticons - Freeform, Shrinking, Transformers - Freeform, more tags/characters to be added, size change, size changing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3392627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoonsie2/pseuds/Spoonsie2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How hard is it to keep track of a tiny Galvatron?</p><p>The answer is very hard.<br/>==<br/>Was originally meant to be a one-shot drabble but my mind insisted it had to be longer, so here we are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cyclonus had recovered first from the Quintessons machine misfiring and exploding. He was far enough away that the only problem he faced was damaging his cooling systems as they had to kick into overdrive at the heat.

Galvatron however was much closer and after his own systems had cooled, at least to an acceptable level, Cyclonus scanned the thick smoke trying to locate him.  
The moment his scanner located the Decepticon leaders signal he darted forwards to try and pick him up from the wreckage.  
Except he missed.  
He had held his hand out at Galvatrons height but there was nothing there.  
He should be standing right over his Master, in fact his systems said so.  
Cyclonus pondered if his scanners had been damaged in the blast, his optics were already beginning to hurt. Disregarding the pain alerts Cyclonus swiped downwards in the general area where his scanners pointed. Calling out Galvatrons name Cyclonus got no answer but he managed to pull something up and his sensors claimed he had picked up Galvatron. In one hand.  
That couldn't be right. But with the Autobots advancing he transformed and headed in the same direction as the rest of the Decepticons.

Hanging back at the edge of the fleeing group Cyclonus scanned all his systems thrice.  
There was nothing wrong with him bar the usual injuries one would gain from a skirmish with the Autobots, and a mildly strained cooling system.  
He then scanned his cockpit.  
Galvatron was there.  
And a visual scan proved it.

The blast had managed to force the Decepticon leaders system into temporary shut down and as a result Galvatron had slipped into a deep recharge. His purple form was curled up tight on one of Cyclonus's seats.  
Nervous Cyclonus swerved a little as he flew, jostling Galvatron. Not that Galvatrons sleep was the problem but more the fact he actually fitted on the seat to a point where he almost seemed consumed by it.  
He was tiny.  
Ridiculously so.  
To scale him up Cyclonus guessed him to be roughly the size of a Earth hamster to a human, if he were the human.  
Feeling a undeniable pang of dread poke at his spark Cyclonus split off from the group as soon as Chaar was in view and slipped into one of the further reaches of the base. The Decepticons didn't notice as they went off for repairs, a few had some painfully exposed wires and a Sweep looked as though it had charged head-first into a panel of pink glass, the shards embedded deep in his armour.

Getting into a older room along the further reaches of the base Cyclonus transformed and locked the door. Looking about there was nothing but empty boxes in here.  
Looking in his hand Galvatron had sprawled out messily but seemed to be recharging lighter now. Cyclonus gently put him down atop one of the boxes, he still didn't move and the pang of dread returned to push at him.  
"Master" he tried verbally rousing the Decepticon leader "Master?"  
All that caused was a grunt and Galvatron pulled his hands over his face. At least he was functioning. Cyclonus had no idea what to do, he seemed to be functioning fine. Just tiny.  
What would happen if the Decepticons found out? A fair few murmured about getting rid of Galvatron, if they found out about this they may take it as their chance. Could he risk taking him to the medical bay? There was no way Galvatron would simply wait idly to see if this would wear off.  
He'd have to try and make something up, something to keep the Decepticons satisfied and something to try and keep Galvatron in check. Hopefully out of danger too.  
Which was easier said than done now he was waking up.  
His shrunken servos spread out as his body stretched, internal systems checking each one to be operational before he sat up.  
"D-damn... squids... fra- frag it... blast... ugh... auto... guh" He moaned as his thoughts attempted to join together coherently. Cyclonus slumped his shoulders in anticipation  
"Master?" he asked hopefully  
"AGH!" Galvatron snapped slamming a fist to his face "DON'T TALK TO ME! GET AUTOBOTS!" he sparked vigorously.  
"But Master, we are back on Chaar, the Quintessons..." he tried to explain  
"CURSE THOSE GLITCHES!" Galvatron snarled at their name "They rigged it! They must have! They just didn't want me to get it! They don't want me to have what is rightfully mine!" he began ranting  
"Sir! You've been altered!" Cyclonus decided to warn him right now before his scanners alerted him to the exact nature of the area around him.  
"NOBODY ALTERS ME!" Galvatron roared, his tiny stature, however, made it out as more of a yell. Galvatron spun round in a swing obviously meant to bat him away for mithering him. He seemed to wobble a little bit on his feet as his processor froze and began working on comprehending what happened, his tiny face-plates arched upwards to look Cyclonus in the face.  
"Who told you you could be up there!? Get down this instant!" He snapped missing the obvious.  
Obediently Cyclonus knelt so he was level with his master.  
Galvatron approached him.  
At the edge of the box he peered over the edge and looked Cyclonus up and down before surveying the room. He raised his hand and made a beckoning motion with his hand and Cyclonus leant forwards. Tiny little claws dug into his forehelm as Galvatron pulled himself up and placed himself upon Cyclonus's head.  
"You may take me to the throne room" He commanded.


	2. Chapter 2

"But Master!" Cyclonus protested and a small fist batted him  
"Don't argue back at me!" was shot back at him "I am still Decepticon leader no matter what! They WILL obey me!"  
Cyclonus had managed to quickly blurt out his fear over the Decepticons taking advantage of his current size but Galvatron would not have it.  
"Take. Me." He growled out and Cyclonus clenched his shoulders and let out a small hiss in response.  
"Yes Sir" He gave in. Rising to his full height Cyclonus strode out the room. He could feel Galvatron cling on a little tighter as he moved. Staying as steady as possible Cyclonus silently scanned the corridors for any signs of Decepticon life hoping to try and avoid meeting anybody on his way to the throne room. About half the Constructicons were down the right passageway, so Cyclonus went straight ahead. The next right turning seemed clear and he passed through there instead. Fortunately Galvatron did not question his route, Cyclonus often suspected he had never bothered to learn the specifics of his own base, but in this case it was a good thing. Additionally the area they were in was indeed a rather obscure part of the base with corridors that did not fit and corners that lead nowhere. Possibly a trick to confuse any invaders. It would be a good plan if it weren't for the fact this part of the base was that obscure no sneak team would bother with it. Anybody who went here was usually slacking and avoiding responsibility.  
Or they were just plain bad tempered and liked being in peace for whatever reasons.  
Like eating.  
Cyclonus had but a split second to jam his heel joint into the ground and stop mid-stride in order to avoid colliding into the large mass that made up Hun-Gurr just around the corner. The Terrorcon was unusually still and placid but that was only because the beastly mech was stripping large metal panels off the walls and eating them.  
While Galvtron had jerked forwards quite harshly from Cyclonus's abrupt stop, anything he was going to say to the mech below him was forgotten when he spotted Hun-Gurr, who had turned to look at them with one head, seething rage quite clear in his optics.  
"YOU FOUL BEAST CEASE EATING THE BASE IMMEDIATELY!" Galvatron bellowed firing a shot from his particle cannon. It inevitably suffered from it's change in dimensions and angle as the blast zipped past both of Hun-Gurr's chins.  
The seething rage in his optics practically illuminated the corridor, Hun-Gurr pretty much thought of two things only: Eating and killing.  
Now he'd been rudely interrupted in one, the other was now top priority.  
Both heads lunged forwards snarling viciously, lifting his hands up to shield both his face and Galvatron, Cyclonus dropped down to the floor, letting Hun-Gurrs less-than-amazing-intelligence do the rest of the work for him, as the two heads collided.  
Keeping one arm up near his head as a precaution, Cyclonus sprinted down the closest corridor in a few bounds, he did not stop until he was sure the brute had ceased any attempt at following them. Most likely distracted with eating again.  
"Sir?" He called in a worried manner, feeling Galvatron's tight grip on his helm.  
"My cannon is malfunctioning" He growled darkly.

Resigned Cyclonus continued to the throne room. Thankfully a majority of the Decepticons were still in the repair bay, off on personal/minor missions or busy skulking away in their own little areas.  
Approaching the rather beaten but ornate throne Cyclonus responded to impatient tapping on his head and knelt down so Galvatron could crawl off. Completely undeterred by the size of it Galvatron sat himself down like he owned the place. Which he did.  
Unneeded Cyclonus stood back up, getting the chance to view the scene in it's entirety.  
He most certainly had to make a copy of this visual image meeting his optics and store it deep in his processor.  
The throne totally dwarfed Galvatron.  
He was small and still wore a grumpy expression, sitting in a seat exceedingly larger than himself.  
Cyclonus swiveled around so he stood next to the throne. This way he could hide the smile that was creeping it's way onto his faceplates.

He wasn't going to tell him.  
But he looked adorable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the chapters will be of varying size/length.  
> I wanted to make this one longer but I'm currently experiencing the aftermath of the flu and while I have more time to write, I don't have the energy.


	3. Chapter 3

The room was silent to the point where any twitch in Cyclonus' wing strut could be heard loud and clear.  
a rhythmic tapping gently floated through the air as Galvatron impatiently tapped on his thigh, bored, as if he expected something to be happening now.

He wasn't far wrong.

Scourge burst into the throne room and waved wildly at Cyclonus  
"Autobots" He gasped. A large dent in his side indicated his air intakes were not fully operational and it affected his vocaliser "Autobots holding energon mine hostage!"  
Cyclonus stared at him.  
He'd completely overlooked Galvatron and went for him, it was exactly what he feared, his master was not back to normal and now he wasn't the only one who knew. Especially as before either had a chance to react Scourge reflexively jerked backwards as a beam or purple whizzed past his optics.  
"YOU DARE DISREGARD ME!?" Galvatron flailed angrily his cannon seeping tendrils of smoke.  
Scourge looked in the direction of their leader's voice. His optics refused to show any emotion as they fell upon Galvatron. His optics proceeded to wander around Galvatron as if searching for the rest of him. He seemed to be drawing a blank so Cyclonus stepped in.  
"How disgraceful for the Autobots to do this while many of us are still in repairs, it seems you have not even had that blast to the head sorted out Scourge" He stared intently at the other mech hoping he realized the cover he was providing to avoid a incident.  
"Y-yes... M-my lord... My processor is still not a hundred percent operational" He took Cyclonus' cover and went with it.   
Cyclonus had to mentally chastise himself to prevent a snide remark about Scourge's processing power from leaving him.  
"The Autobots believe we took something of great importance, they are demanding it back" he informed them both on the situation.  
"As far as I am currently aware nothing was taken during the battle, we fled due to damages caused by the Quintesson's machine exploding" Cyclonus stated half-filling in Galvatron on what happened while he was out.  
"I know that but they don't believe us!" He complained.  
"FOOLS! Let me talk to them! They will wish they never drew breath!" Galvatron sparked. He stood up on the throne seat "TAKE ME TO THEM! I'LL LET THEM HAVE IT!" He waved his cannon-bearing arm for emphasis.  
"My lord, No" Cyclonus cut in sharply "If the Autobots find out what happened to you they will use it to their advantage!" he pleaded  
"My size is IRRELEVANT!" He snapped "I will destroy them all the same!"  
"There is no denying you are still fearsome my lord, I merely fear there may be repercussions caused by said change in size" Cyclonus pleaded again  
"The Autobots are foolish! I can still take them all on!" He snapped  
Cyclonus had to pause for a few seconds to push back the mental image that created. A tiny Galvatron no more than a purple smudge powering it's way through droves of Autobot soldiers. It made a part of Cyclonus clench with a unidentified emotion that made his lip plates want to curl up into a nice big mile.  
"They are not on Chaar my Lord" Scourge finally spoke up again "They're still at the deposit they took hostage"  
"Then allow me to talk to them my lord" Cyclonus formulated a plan "If they do not co operate and we do have to go to battle it will still leave this... situation as a surprise?" He did not intend it to sound like a question, but it was better that way than to make it seem as if he were issuing a order. "They will be expecting you to appear as you normally do and when you don't their momentary distraction will be their downfall!"  
"Also wouldn't the slight change in pitch that has occurred make your voice harder for the communications array to pick up?" Scourge put in. Cyclonus shot a glare at him.  
"The element of surprise is a good strategy to turn this to our advantage" Cyclonus carried on as if Scourge had not spoke.  
The continual chatter had clearly bored Galvatron. He still looked somewhat angry but the was his optics had gone out of focus suggested he has stopped listening a while ago. Cyclonus took this as his cue. Reaching into his subspace pocket Cyclonus pulled out a small compact Energon cube with a flick of his wrist. He pushed the cube onto Galvatron's small lap the object taking up almost all of it. Accepting the offering Galvatron bit straight into the cube.  
The events of the whole day had left Cyclonus at a bit of a loss and confused at what action to take next. Or at least that's what he told himself mentally to excuse the fact that he affectionately pressed his finger gently into Galvatrons cheek as he pulled his hand away.  
"Come Scourge, let us go talk sense into the Autobots while our master thinks of the appropriate plan to deal with any skirmish that may arise" he turned to the exit and Scourge followed as quickly as possible.

He was not happy about leaving Galvatron by himself. Anything could happen now, there was no way Galvatron was going to stay still for long, he could only that small cube would keep him occupied.

Long strides kept Cyclonus a few feet ahead of Scourge at all times but he could feel the other's optics focused on the back of his helm. Sighing he turned to look at him.  
Scourge seemed to have a facial expression that combined disbelief, confusion, bewilderment and total amusement. He also had a look in his optics, expecting an explanation.  
"Don't look at me like that. I don't know either, I can only presume it has something to do with the Quintesson's machine" He groaned.   
Scourge raised a optical ridge amusement starting to become the dominant expression on his face.  
"You poked his cheek..."   
"Just don't" Cyclonus muttered quickly.  
They walked down to the communications array where Soundwave silently stared down the Autobot currently visible on screen.  
"Autobots: Still disbelieving" He stated the source of his ire.  
"Let me talk to them" Cyclonus commanded at the same time as moving the other Decepticon aside. Rodimus and Ultra Magnus were visible on the other end of the communication channel.  
"Why are you holding our Energon mine hostage? After all it's located on a uninhabited planet so you can hardly accuse us of harming the natives" He stared coldly at the two.  
"Out of all the things to steal during a fight, one interrupted by Quintessons no less, why and where have you taken our communication nexus?" Ultra Magnus stood closest to the screen.  
Cyclonus tilted his helm at the Autobot. He had some understanding as to how Ultra Magnus thought, and he was the one talking instead of Rodimus, the leader should be the one negotiating and only his master had an excuse.  
"We won't give it back" He stated bluntly "Not until you meet our demands"  
Scourge and Soundwave both turned to him making sharp confused noises. Cyclonus ignored them and Magnus, he kept his optics square on Rodimus. He was aware the current Prime still had a lot to learn and while Rodimus was proving himself to be rather adept at his position he wasn't infallible. At his remark Rodimus had glanced at Magnus and to someone off screen. Cyclonus glanced back at Soundwave and Scourge.  
"What do you want in return?" Magnus continued as if Cyclonus hadn't picked up something suspicious.  
"The truth?" Cyclonus folded his arms "You know most of us would still be in repairs even now and not capable of offering a good enough defence, yet you do not simply come and take it yourself. Why choose such a convoluted manner to get such a item back? Besides both you and Prime are here talking to me, as commanding officers shouldn't at least one of you remain on Cybertron on the off chance we took advantage of this?"  
Behind his Scourge and Soundwave clicked on to what had happened and Ultra Magnus wore a knowing expression on his face plates.  
"Kup can handle everything in our absence." he responded.  
"Also why are you the one negotiating? Surely your leader should be." Cyclonus raised a optical ridge.  
"I could say the same to you, but we both know this would go nowhere if I spoke to Galvatron"  
"Galvatron is otherwise indisposed" He managed before Scourge grabbed Cyclonus's shoulder as a distant explosion was heard, muffled shouting followed it. Magnus hastily cut the communication line before Cyclonus managed to say anything.  
"That came from the direction of the throne room!" He bolted past Scourge and Soundwave and out of the room in three limb straining bounds. He was distantly aware of both of them following behind him.  
A lot of the mess seemed to originate from the medical bay as if that was where they were initially attacked. Signs of fighting seemed to trail down the hallways before jutting off sharply right by the throne room. A room that now had a large hole in the side of it, a hole that showed the Autobots as a mere glimmer in the sky already far away.  
Ignoring any of the other Decepticons who entered in after him Cyclonus scanned the area for anything remotely resembling Galvatron's signal.  
The only evidence he had been here was a half eaten compact cube completely unnoticed by Long Haul who stood next to it. He was more interested in angrily complaining about having to fix the throne room again.  
Cyclonus looked at the cube and back up to where the Autobots had fled.  
Dread clung to his spark.


	4. Chapter 4

Cyclonus felt undeniable pangs of panic.  
He spun round and tried to scan the surrounding areas for any sign of Galvatron.   
His scan turned out nothing but the rabble of Decepticons that had congregated, making it increasingly difficult.  
Without Galvatron the Decepticons turned to him as the SIC, when they were not attempting to take charge themselves.  
It was mostly long drawn out complaints of 'if only I wern't injured' or 'if you're so strong why didn't you get them?' and 'they're getting away why isn't anyone chasing after them?' or variants of those phrases. It was already making Cyclonus's processor hurt.  
"SILENCE!" he bellowed. At the very least he could get some peace to think in. The Decepticons went quiet and traded griping in for death glares awaiting to hear whatever Cyclonus would say next. Many looked as if they were already formulating arguments against whatever Cyclonus may say. He grabbed Scrapper and pulled him face to face.  
"What exactly happened?" he growled at the stuttering 'con  
"What? I - They just burst into the Medical bay and stole a random assortment of items. Specifically anything that was brought back from the most recent encounter with them" He explained quickly after the initial surprise-stuttering ceased.  
"Fine" He knew something he could do to keep them occupied and dropped Scrapper "Search the med bay and corridors, we need to know what they took and, hopefully, why. I will follow the Autobots. Soundwave, Scourge take charge." he barked.  
Many of the Decepticons started doing as he ordered quickly, they would act rebellious but often enough they were easy to control if you yelled orders at them with enough authoritative force. The rest seemed to start directing ire at the two he mentioned.  
Scourge glared at him as he went past, knowing full well what he was off to do  
"You're an idiot" He muttered at him, before turning away to command the Sweeps.  
Cyclonus ignored any thought of responding and transformed, flying at full thrust in the direction the Autobots had gone.

The space was tiny and warm.  
He clung tightly to the underside of a particularly stupid Autobot keeping himself pressed to the inside of it's leg so he was less visible.  
The Autbots were cowardly and had not even attempted to retaliate as he fired at them, angrily Galvatron had grabbed onto the side of one of the invading Autobots and managed to position himself where he was now.  
"Me, Sludge, still no know why these important" The dimwitted dolt he clung to uttered, it's entire body shifting as it lumbered over to the table where their stolen goods lay. A pair of blue legs came into view as the other Autobot stood next to him.  
"Wegottafindoutifthere'sanybitofQuintessontechnologythere!" it spoke, or at least Galvatron thought it spoke, was that even a sentence? Judging by the dull groaning noise Sludge made his slow processor had barely caught any of it either.   
Then again Galvatron wasn't paying attention.   
The sudden burst of energy combined with the stodgy energon cube he had partially consumed was pulling his systems into another recharge cycle, his smaller frame taking much longer to process such thick energon. He tried to stave off the alluring prospect of another restful recharge, the fools had yet to notice him and he wanted to listen in to everything he could.  
"Rest assured my fellow compatriots, with my graceful skills we will be on Cybertron before those Decepticons even think of following us!" the Mech that was ferrying them across space preened himself as they traveled.  
One was stupid, one had an annoying voice and the other was full of himself.  
Screw listening to this, Galvatron was going for that recharge.

Being by himself Cyclonus deemed it fit to stay a safe distance away from the Autobots travelling away from Chaar. He tried to scan them, but getting close enough to scan them would allow their scanners to pick him up and that would lead to a fight which he was trying to avoid. Then again if Galvatron was with them, that would certainly get him into the open and easy for Cyclonus to pick up.  
Unless he got hit in the inevitable crossfire.  
Cyclonus shuddered. His diminished size probably makes laser fire from a normal weapon much worse, the blast, if it hit, would probably damage a majority of his body.  
Calming himself down he thought how stupid that was. Not only would his smaller stature make a ordinary blast much worse, it would also make it significantly harder to hit him.   
He would not risk his Masters safety on a mere chance.  
Cyclonus hung back far enough that on several occasions he had to speed up to make sure he was still following them. Then again there was only one place they could be heading and that was Cybertron.  
He just felt the need to, keep them in sight.  
Hopefully nothing would happen to his targets if he kept an optic on them he convinced himself.  
Sure enough Cybertron came into view and Sky Lynx sped up as he neared, soon disappearing on the planets surface.  
Cyclonus hung back, just in case there were any sensors around the planet. Getting captured would greatly hinder his rescue plan.  
Now would also be a good time to think of a actual plan.


	5. Chapter 5

Water was a bizarre sensation to start feeling.  
Galvatron awoke from his second recharge of the day with a start. Despite his 'hiding spot' on the Dinobot he had all but been consumed by the cold fluid.  
The fluid made it harder for him to cling to the dimwitted Autobot and he found himself dislodged by the current. Flailing his arms and legs around Galvatron desperately tried to get himself steady in the waters flow but a quick swimming cyber-fish bolted past him, having avoided becoming dino-food, and threw him off balance again. Trying not to swim against the current Galvatron grasped hold of the river bed and clung to the bottom.  
His systems angrily fought to get into operational condition after the rude awakening, Galvatron in turn fought angrily against his own systems as he began pulling himself along the riverbed.  
He needed to get closer to those morons.  
Find out any information possible, he was sure he was only this way because of something those Autobots did. They _always_ set out to stop him. Those despicable... Auto.... _bots_ his processor struggled to find proper words through his anger.  
"Me, Snarl think me should talk more" It was muffled but Galvatron heard it.  
At last, words! They were going to spill all their secrets to him and not even realise it!  
"Me, Swoop forget you talk sometimes" squawking occurred followed by a chattering giggle. The one designated 'Snarl' grumbled moodily.  
"Now me, Snarl, remember why I no talk much"  
"Me, Sludge no understand. Him, Snarl could always talk"  
"All us Dinobots talk! Grimlock say so!"  
"Me, Slag think talking dumb"  
"Well me, Grimlock no care what Slag think. Talking help find enemies!"  
Something akin to a minor scuffle occurred, before  
"Oh, Grimlock right, me, Slag forgot about that"  
"Yes, that why me, Grimlock leader! Me, Grimlock smart!"  
"If you Grimlock, so smart why us Dinobots not fighting enemies now?" Slag growled  
"Dinobots enjoy fishing though" Swoop interjected   
Galvatron wasn't quite sure what he was listening to. A part of him kept listening however. It was strange. What even went through these beasts processors?

Cyclonus had no idea what to do. He sped around Cybertron looking for a gap in the Autobot's sensor array, some way to get in unnoticed and slip away with Galvatron.  
It seemed after the Quintessons prior attempt at startling them all mid-battle had lead the Autobot's security director to tighten up the planets sensor array in response.  
All the harder for Cyclonus to get in.  
This was ridiculous. He hung back near the orbital path Unicron's head once travelled and wondered if he could use anything from in there. Were there still anti-electrons in there? But was risking any sort of encounter with Unicron by himself a wise move. Probably not.   
Groaning Cyclonus had to wait, they couldn't keep a planet wide cover like this going at full capacity for long, he knew that as part of their latest attempt to relinquish control of Cybertron from the Autobots they deliberately damaged the main generators. They were either using back-up generators or had fixed the main ones as soon as they had left, something he hoped they had not done and had favoured dealing with the massive damage left by the Quintesson machine. Maybe they had a few shrunken Autobots to find and keep an eye on. It was a possibility Cyclonus was sure this all had to be something their interfering had caused.

"Us Dinobots no fight because no enemies! No enemies, mean no fights!" Grimlock repeated for the nth time  
"Why can't me Slag, fight Autobots again?" This one was not letting up  
"Swoop think it because of explosion"  
"Me Sludge, not want to think about that, make Sludge feel uncomfortable"  
"It make everyone on Cybertron uncomfortable, that's why they try fixing it while we Dinobots stay here and protect planet, That what me Grimlock think anyway"  
"Wasn't power thing damaged in fight? Me Snarl thought Squids destroy it"  
"No they just try to attack both us Autobots and them Decepticons. Grimlock know, they cause explosion on Cybertron but Decepticons damage generator"  
"Then which generator are we using now?"  
"Uuh, Me Grimlock don't know... Gonna find out"  
Splashing and waving limbs filled the water as each of the Dinobots heaved their large forms out of the water, lost in thought Galvatron barely moved as a spiked tail slid past his helm contact only prevented by a layer of displaced water as it moved.  
Galvatron only realised he was alone as the water quickly cooled down without the Dinobots in it. A involuntary shiver rattled his body and Galvatron groaned through bubbles.  
He had no idea if they said anything of worth at all.  
But they were going to a Generator and that was better than nothing.  
The Dinobot's path followed the course of the river for the time being and so Galvatron swam alongside them, he could cripple their generator and the Autobots would be forced to submit to him!


	6. Chapter 6

Cyclonus could always rely on how patient his programming could be.  
A fluctuation across the security sensors around Cybertron was a perfect opportunity for him to get in. Transforming and diving down he'd be nothing but a bright streak of light in the sky to any bot who caught a glimpse of him, he pulled up with a sharp jolt and kept himself pressed as close, as was safely possible, to the ground. Cruising down several side alleys he found a secluded spot on the outskirts of the Autobots Cybertronian city. Reverting back to his bipedal form he scanned the area. If the city were to be divided into four segments a majority of the Autobots were on the opposite side of the city in the corner furthest away from him, the other corner on that side, the one where their prior battle was held, was giving off a unusual energy signature from the centre of it. The two city segments closest to him were pretty much uninhabited and any inhabitants about seemed to be using the underground facilities or were simple patrol drones with false energy signals.  
As if Cyclonus wouldn't be able to see through that trick.  
Keeping low enough to the ground that with an outstretched arm he could touch the floor, Cyclonus shuffled as fast as he could to the city borders. Cyclonus pressed himself tightly to the wall of the first building, powering up his scanners he kept an alert out for any possible nearby Autobots, or hopefully Decepticons and began shimmying along the side of the wall.  
He'd find Galvatron as soon as possible. All while avoiding any Autobots and the energy signal that was their problem and theirs alone.

Meanwhile, when the Dinobots moved away from the Waters edge Galvatron cursed, loudly.  
Loud enough he wondered if his cover had been blown and someone heard him.  
Of course they didn't.  
Stupid Autobots.  
Pulling himself out of the water he started up his engines and felt his core temperature rise and soon the water dried off, he helped it along by moving onwards in the direction of his 'prey'. If this was indeed what the Sweeps liked to spend most of their time doing, he began to see a little why they enjoyed it, the lumbering beasts did not even turn in the general vicinity of his direction, pathetic, and yet so many of his Decepticons feared these idiots in battle.  
The lumbering set of mechano-morons before him bumbled after their leader, their large bodies walking in a awkward line along pathways not designed for such a wide load. As their bodies swung with their walking they shoved into each other and bumped into buildings crumbling the exteriors. Occasionally a startled or angry yelp would come from inside and Galvatron would duck behind his current place of cover to avoid detection. When the Dinobots got further away he continued following once more. Despite several angry voices yelling at them the group carried on as if they said nothing.  
"Wouldn't be so much yelling if people built roads big enough for us Dinobots, so rude" Grimlock huffed after a Autobot with a thick accent leaned out a window and howled angrily at them as the one with the long neck managed to put his tail through a wall.  
Galvatron huffed when the Autobot vanished.   
A good Decepticon wouldn't have taken that, they'd have made the road wide enough. If the others didn't like it deal with it. Their mistake, its not like none of them know how big their comrades were! Stupid Autobots, Galvatron wondered why they were the ones still controlling Cybertron.  
He'd need to have a 'chat' with his subordinates about that.  
Then again he pondered watching the group in front of him, maybe if one or two walked behind the others they wouldn't be too wide for the road.  
Galvatron suddenly frowned now not sure if he was angry at those that built the road or at those in front of him.   
He figured being angry at both was the best option.  
Bollards and lamp posts bent as they bumped into them making a mess of the street and providing more pieces of rubble for Galvatron to hide behind. Idiots.  
What was even better was the fact they were leading him to a power station! The group went through a door, eventually figuring out that going single-file was the most preferable option. They still managed to crack the door frame.  
The long halls elongated the Autobot's shadows and the space made their voices echo and Galvatron felt safe enough to abandon cover. Waiting for them to get out of range he found himself able to follow them without detection easily.  
The hall was wide and cold. Any gust of air felt like sharp waves of cold water washing over Galvatron each time it happened. Still following the Autobots shadows Galvatron looked around him fascinated by the new perspective despite it not revealing anything new right now. The Autobot's generator seemed to be protected by long winding hallways that would surely slow down invaders and give Autobots shelter from behind.   
Simple and effective. Galvatron grinned, such useful information he now possessed! It was always useful, anything was useful when he wanted it to be.  
"See this generator is keeping things stable!" The one named Grimlock introduced the device. Galvatron pressed himself close to the door and peered around the corner.  
The horned Dinobot pushed forwards knocking Grimlock down so his head dented the edge of the device  
"It no look special to me!" He snarled. Grimlock growled deeply as he swung his tail around toppling the horned one over and into a wall. While it angrily struggled to get back up it stomped down onto the long necked Autobot's tail making that one leap forwards with a startled yelp, barrelling into the spiked one both of them crashing into the tubes at the side of the Generator.  
The flying one was smart enough to keep out of the way but started squawking in alarm as the sides of the room crumbled as the clumsy Oafs tried righting themselves as their leader bellowed the horned Autobot into submission.  
It was a ridiculous sight.  
"Oh no, oh no! Dinobots wreck generator room, boss will be mad at us Dinobots!" Worried squawking started calming the others down. Grimlock turned on the spot looking the room over.  
"No, us Dinobots only do damage to room. Generator fine, everything will be fine. No Dinobots in trouble, Me Grimlock make sure!" He grunted seeming to find the damage their lumbering forms had caused insignificant.  
"Me Sludge, want to go back to fishing, leave smart stuff to smart bots" The Long neck whined, the spiked one nodded.  
"Me Swoop, hope this generator work in stopping explosion, we should stay doing the fighting on top of Cybertron. That's what us Dinobots do best"  
"Yes well, Autobots will thank us Dinobots, we check on generator to make sure it work, while they're busy. We keep good care! Not as dumb as they say, never were!" Grimlock herded the group out quicker than he got them in there.

Galvatron waited for them all to leave before he came out from behind the corner. The generator was dented and the room covered in rubble he pondered what to do next when, the generator then flickered and the entire room went dull for a while. It didn't take too long for the Generator to lurch back into life the whirling inner mechanics of the thing rattling loudly as it fought to stay online.  
Well that does it. Galvatron wasn't going to stand for this.


	7. Chapter 7

Galvatron had stayed in the generator room.  
It was trashed.  
Totalled.  
Wrecked.  
Smashed.  
Chunks of the wall were missing, large cracks went up the walls and pipes were bent in all the wrong ways.  
It was disgraceful.  
Galvatron was disgusted that they'd leave it like this.  
It was just plain rude.  
Didn't they know this was _his_ planet!?.  
This was _his_ planet to conquer!?  
How dare they start wrecking it before he gets it!  
Such a terrible mistreatment of the place!  
Awful Autobots.  
They were going to wreck _his_ planet before he could even claim it back from their filthy servos!  
Galvatron wasn't going to stand for this!  
He grabbed a piece of the rubble.  
Oh-ho no, those Autobots wern't going to get away with this. They were not going to ruin it before he could claim it. Stomping forth Galvatron gripped the piece of the rubble angrily and began walking closer to the wall, coming up to a small hole in the wall he began stuffing it in there, adding punches to reshape the piece to fit the hole perfectly.  
Perfect.  
The pipes were easier to fix the metal bent under Galvatron forceful pushing and steadily began righting itself.  
No Autobot was going to screw Galvatron out of what was his.

Cyclonus had been able to keep low and had disengaged all of his unnecessary systems to decrease any chance of being discovered.  
The phoney patrol drones followed an ordered pattern, sticking close to a side alley Cyclonus only had to wait for a few minutes to learn the drones route and note it down, mapping the routes he can take with minimal chance of detection.  
With not much idea on where Galvatron would be heading in his state or if he had been captured by Autobots, Cyclonus deduced that Galvatrons most likely course of action would be to head to the strange energy signal to investigate.  
Or at least he hoped so.  
Predicting Galvatron was not an easy task.  
Continuing to stick to the side streets and alleyways Cyclonus weaved a awkward path over to the energy source.  
His focus was so intent on his movements that when a distant voice reached his audios his reaction was not best thought out. The sudden noise jarred him from his intense focus and Cyclonus dived to the ground hoping not to have been spotted. It was not graceful or dignified.  
Diverting power to his audios Cyclonus strained to hear what was being said.  
"I am very proud of you" A voice he recognised to belong to the Autobot Perceptor chimed.  
"Ugh, no say thing like that!" A voice belonging to a Dinobot, most likely Grimlock groaned.  
"No, no, no! You're taking responsibility for your actions even if it may not have caused any major problems! It's a sign of intelligence and strength in admitting ones own errors!" Perceptor spoke in a such manner a manner that Cyclonus could visualise the stupid wide smile on his face just from that.  
"Hey! Me, Grimlock thought you agree to no more remarks on brains!" Grimlock snapped  
"Oh but I wasn't!"  
"Nuh-uh! Me, Grimlock could tell!"

The Dinobots had left the generator room only to notice the power fluctuations.  
Worried about the knock on effects it may have had regarding their problem on Cybertron they had decided to come clean about their earlier clumsy attempts at viewing the Generator and admit it may have caused said fluctuations.  
The Dinobots wished they could've spoken to someone else about it however. They didn't quite get on with Perceptor. His response to their admission and his praise of their choice to admit possible fault was squarely putting him on the road to being knocked down by any of the Dinobots in a 'clumsy accident' that may or may not have been staged. His continual blabbering was not helping.  
"Us Dinobots only say so because that thing scare us!" Sludge snapped  
"The Dinobots actually admit to being fearful of something! Your behavioural programming seems to finally be improving" Perceptor clapped happily.  
"Everyone scared of that thing, it bad, it all bad" Swoop whined.  
"Ah, yes our little problem is making everyone rather... unsettled" Perceptor caved in after a few moments.  
Eventually entering the room where the generator itself was housed the Dinobots stood confused in the doorway as Perceptor stood in the rooms centre, slowly spinning around on the spot.  
"It looks a bit battered... But nothings actually damaged..." He slowly muttered confused at the oddly neat albeit patchy room. The generators pipes were a bit bent but in the right places and the walls had many cracks in and a few tiny holes.  
Not as damaged as the Dinobots described to him.  
Rather neat in it's own little way.

Outside a wobbly figure stumbled through the side roads.  
This small body was useless and nowhere near as energy efficient as he was used to.  
Galvatron looked for a place to hide where he could recharge his batteries a little.  
A vent would work.  
He could both spy on the Autobots and rest.  
Perfect.  
Yanking the metal plating from it's place on the wall Galvatron squeezed his small body through the gap and now had access to the entire building through it's vents.


	8. Chapter 8

With the Autobots well out of range Cyclonus slowly pulled himself up from the floor.  
Brushing off his front, Cyclonus mentally grimaced at his less-than-dignified actions. He should work more on his ability to make snap-decisions and improve them.  
From the tones of their voices Cyclonus was thankful to assume that they had not found or captured Galvatron, it made his chances seem much better.  
Still not risking anything Cyclonus picked up speed and moved quicker than he had before.  
Aiming for the unusual energy signal Cyclonus took a more direct route this time. Instead of noting down patrol droids monitoring patterns he simply paused only to wait for them to go before moving on. Speed was much more important for him now. He had to find Galvatron, as soon as possible.

The energy source was getting closer now.  
Or at least he thought it was.  
His scanners were beginning to detect the energy as nothing?  
Non existent.  
He was sure he had picked something up.  
The closer he got the more unsure of his readings he became.  
Cyclonus slowed down.  
The curious readings put him on edge.  
Some strange feeling deep in his spark sent a cold surge up his spinal strut.  
Something about this area... felt strange... off-putting.  
Not... normal.  
The source of it froze Cyclonus.  
He had no idea what he was looking at but something about it chilled him.  
He did not see this as they fled from the most recent battle.

Galvatron had more than enough room to crawl on his hands and knees through the vent. His small stature making the previously inaccessible spot his to roam through.  
The grates lead to several different parts of the building, A fair few of them with nothing in.  
Cursing and punching a dent in the vent Galvatron hissed at himself, surely he couldn't have gone into a totally uninhabited building? How was he to learn secrets while no one was about to tell them?  
By the time he heard anything akin to a voice the vent he was travelling along and a series of dents and holes in from small frustrated outbursts.  
Grinning gleefully at the little success Galvatron lay down and crawled forwards, inching closer and closer to the source.  
When the voices got loud enough he put his optic close to the tiny vent, far too small even for himself to go through, and peered in eager to see all the secrets the Autobots would unwittingly reveal to him.  
Humans.  
He saw humans.  
DAMN IT.  
He didn't want humans! He wanted Autobots! He wanted their secrets! Not these... squishies....  
"We really should move back to Earth. At least until there is total confirmation that whatever this is, is safe!" The one with yellow fur atop its cranium sighed.  
"I know, but we've never let the Autobots down before, I'm sure there is something we can do to help them. Even with this." The one with brown fur pointed out.  
"I'm not saying we abandon the Autobots Spike! It's just... I don't want anything to happen to Daniel. He's already had many nightmares over the Decepticons alone! I just don't want any more to happen to him..."  
"I know Carly." Spike smiled at the slightly shorter human before pulling it in to a hug "We should ask how he feels about going back to Earth though I don't want him to feel as though we are forcing anything onto him. I worry about the constant back and forth between planets too, he doesn't say much about that either"  
How boring.  
Galvatron moved on.  
Was this all his efforts were going to be rewarded with? Mindless chit-chat from the humans?  
He would not accept this. There had to be more. Much more. He was going to find it, even if it took him centuries to ascertain!  
Galvatron continued to drag himself onwards while the two humans chattered away.  
Galvatron silently climbed his way through the network of vents with tiny hand-sized grills into the rooms of the building. At the very least such small vent openings made it near-impossible to see him without moving the cover.  
More commotion drew his attention.  
It was the small human, the one the other two identified as 'Daniel'.  
More cursing floated around Galvatrons processor. He must have crawled into the Earth-peoples dwelling on Cybertron.  
Quite why they had a dwelling he didn't know.  
They did not need to be on Cybertron, they shouldn't even be here as far as he was concerned.  
The small human appeared to be armed with some form of weapon, however it had useless foam-based ammunition loaded into it.  
The child jumped around his room shooting the foam darts at toys, or hitting them with the butt of the gun. Some of the toys seemed to be marked in deliberate patterns. Some having shaped pieces of materials stuck to their backs like they had wings, some appeared to have antennae glued on. Many were painted as well. All of them had a sloppy purple triangle painted onto them however.  
Galvatron wondered if they were meant to be Decepticons.  
Each of the toys fell down as the young Earthling hit away at them with other toys.  
A certifiable toy-massacre. The child laughed triumphantly as if he were winning an actual battle.  
The remaining purple-painted toy wore a strangely familiar crown-like crest glued to its head and a tube taped to one arm. The child overplayed hunting down the figure before clocking it in the face with his toy weapon sending the figurine flying.  
A ballad for the fallen.  
"Mmmmm What'cha saaay" Leaked out from Galvatrons amused vocal unit.  
Startled the child panicked and the toy gun was flung spectacularly into the air smacking into the ceiling. The moment it landed Daniel grabbed it and held it up again.  
"W-who's there!?" He gasped wildly pointing it in every direction "This is not funny!"  
"On the contrary I thought it to be quite amusing" Galvatron purred  
"Wh-where are you?" Daniel quivered.  
"I am invisible" Galvatron responded without hesitation. As if he was going to say where he actually was, even if it was to a child.  
"Oh really? Pick something up then! So I can see where you are!" He snapped still distrustful. Galvatron chuckled, did he not recognize his voice?  
"I cannot do that, I am small, very small" Well Galvatron technically wasn't lying "I cannot travel far and came to stop here where I witnessed your toy battle"  
The child still looked quickly around the room but seemed a little more embarrassed that someone had seen what he was doing.  
"S-so?" he acted undeterred gripping his toy gun tighter.  
"Oh please! Put the phony weapon down! Like I said I am small and cannot hurt you child. Besides you're holding it wrong" Galvatron crooned at the panicked youngster who slowly looked down his weapon which was, as the voice had told him, pointed the wrong way.


	9. Chapter 9

Cyclonus beheld nothing.  
Nothing.  
Pure nothingness.  
It wasn't the static white noise that monitors displayed when broken, it was nothing.  
It wasn't blank white space it was _nothing_.  
It was the battlefield of their most recent skirmish that the Quintessons interrupted.  
Though Cyclonus could not even see the other side of the battlefield, because it was blocked out by nothing.  
He squinted at the nothing as if that would clear it out, but that just caused optical lubricant to stream down his face. Staring at the nothing was already causing problems and it had been less than an Earth minute. His optics burned and streamed lubricant as they struggled to take in nothing. His scanners hummed and buzzed through his processor angrily, furious over nothing.  
His processor hurt.  
There should be something there.  
Something comprehensible, but there wasn't.  
There was nothing!.  
Just nothing!.  
There was so much nothing that it physically hurt.  
Cyclonus gripped his head, groaning.   
It was impossible for there to be nothing.   
There had to be something!  
It felt as though Cyclonus was internally tearing himself apart struggling to comprehend it.

It hurt to the point where his systems couldn't spare the energy to make Cyclonus aware of an enemy Autobot standing a few feet behind him.  
"Well, well, well, I'm not surprised to see one of your lot prowling around here. Sort of surprising that it's you, tell me, are the Decepticons falling apart without their obscenely loyal backbone?" The Autobot sneered.  
It was almost like a welcome sound cutting through the buzzing intensity of nothing, if only it wasn't an Autobot.  
Cyclonus spun round with intent to whallop the offending Autobot, but the smaller foe quickly stepped out of range. Short, thin, pink...  
"Ah the female Autobot found me" Cyclonus announced unnecessarily in a equally sneering manner as if the situation was under control, and it was not completely obvious that his systems were still running themselves into a failure over literally nothing.  
"I. Have. A NAME!" She screamed launching herself at the unsteady Decepticon.  
And just like that Arcee reported back to base with an unconscious prisoner.

Interesting it may have been but the Daniel-human had gone quiet and had started shuffling around the room poking away at things nervously.  
"W-where are you?" he poked the rim of his bed  
"About" Galvatron responded with no hesitation.  
"But where about? You say you're small and invisible... But how did you get in? Where did you come from?" Daniel had stopped shuffling and had started twirling around surveying his room  
“You ask a lot of questions, I’ve done nothing wrong!” Galvatron lied.  
“Oh… Sorry It’s just… Well I never expected for someone to show up randomly in my room… It’s just… My space? Y’know” Daniel looked sheepish and rubbed the floor with his foot shyly.  
“Oh don’t mumble!” Galvatron moaned “Nothing bad's happened yet!” Ah wait, information “I don’t even know much about this place!” Galvatron perked up as he remembered to do something useful.  
“Oh! You don’t know where you are?” Daniel started looking curious as he sat himself back on his bed, giving up the search.  
“No” Galvatron lied again.  
“Oh well no wonder you were being a little snappy with me! I’m sorry, you’re probably scared and alone! But don’t worry! This is Cybertron and you’re with me and the Autobots now! You’ll be safe here for as long as you stay! Cybertron is quite safe! Well.... When it’s just us about”  
Galvatron could feel his tanks rolling at the mention of the Autobots, almost regretting everything he just said.  
“Uh, anyway! You’ll be perfectly safe here until you decide to go on somewhere else!” The child grinned happily “I have a really good friend, his name is Wheelie! Oh! We could all hang out together! I mean while you’re here we can show you around and you can meet everyone it’ll be so fun! You landed on the right planet!”  
“Oh well” Galvatron reeled at the thought of going round meeting Autobots “Can’t I just hear about this place first before I get bombarded with new people?”  
“Oh. That sounds fair, you’re probably tired I mean” Daniel dropped the idea of running round meeting Autobots and Galvatron regretted the idea of talking with this human and not just jumping out and blasting everything in sight. That actually sounded pretty good right now. Then again this small body seemed to burn up energy far too quickly, oh curses. After a few seconds Galvatron realised the child was still talking  
“This is the Autobots homeworld” Oh great, it took all of Galvatrons willpower not to smack his helm against the vents side “Well it’s the Decepticons too, ‘cos they’re all ‘Transformers’ but they’re not so nice… I think it’s kinda sad though… I hear they’ve been fighting so long now, I just hope one day it could all be finished maybe… I mean if the Decepticons acted nicer and didn’t hurt anyone I don’t see why they couldn’t stay on Cybertron! It seems like an endless cycle”  
Great, so the human pities Decepticons!? Stupid child, Galvatron internally raged at what he’d heard, pity? For the Decepticons?  
Outrageous!.  
And even then, Pity off a small Earth Child!?   
Galvatron bit his lip plates not to scream and blow his cover.  
“Ooh but you don’t want to hang about listening to me ramble on! That went rather off subject quickly!” Daniel kinda sighed to himself and Galvatron nodded to himself, yes he didn’t want to listen to this child ramble on but he kind of had to.


	10. Chapter 10

Galvatron had listened to the child ramble on for quite a while now, though he had quickly forgot about Cybertron and had started talking about Earth after a few sentences.  
“The Decepticons seem less interested in Earth now…” He muttered.  
Galvatron perked up at finally hearing something recognisable, or at least something he had interest in.  
“Maybe they could co-exist there with humans and THEN stop all the fighting… Oh I’m sorry I’ve spoken about that twice now. You don’t want to hear about all the nasty fighting, I guess I just want it to stop pretty badly, well I guess everyone does but… y’know… Wait, I don’t even know your name! Or if there’s anything specific you need to know about Cybertron! Like if we have anything you can eat or drink! I bet you’re hungry! Or anything to help you with… getting back home or something!” Daniel stood up and looked around his room energetically as if he might catch a glimpse.

Galvatron froze, he hadn’t come up with any kind of fake name, he hadn’t expected to be asked questions.  
Why would he?  
He was the one asking them, not answering them!  
“Daniel” The voice belonging to the adult male human, Spat, Spade... or something, called out to his offspring.  
“Oh! Coming dad! I’ll be right back!” The child held it’s hands up in an apologetic manner, presumably to you, and hot footed it out of the room.

Galvatron smacked his head against the vent walls angrily, leaving a notable dent and emitting a loud dull thud.  
Uuuuhhhhh he wanted to shoot something.  
Even if it was with the humans ineffective toy weapon.

Galvatron pondered moving from the vent.  
If he did, he could go elsewhere, stretch out his servo’s and hopefully find someone or something to punch before finding out any information.  
Not that he quite remembered why he was after information.  
Probably wasn’t important if he didn’t bother to remember it anyway.  
If he didn’t move however he could continue to learn from the gullible child.  
Then again it could be telling it’s creators about him now. What if he left and the child got worried and started searching? What if he got the Autobots to help search? He couldn’t stay hidden forever. They’d find him.  
The act must be kept up.

When Daniel returned Galvatron was sure he must have gone into recharge for a few cycles. It couldn’t have taken so long otherwise.  
The infant human seemed, what was the word, crestfallen despite it’s lack of an obvious crest.  
It said nothing but dropped itself upon the bed and pulled up a handheld video screen.  
Brightly coloured words flashed upon it and a flashy cartoon spread out across the screen.  
The child was ignoring Galvatron for a cartoon!?  
The outrage!  
The bright robots danced about fighting equally as bright monsters.  
Ridiculous, he lived among fighting mechanoids every day and whined about the fighting, then watched this garbage.  
Galvatron’s optics almost shattered with how deep his brow furrowed in anger at the strange, irritating little fleshling.

“Wait” Galvatron suddenly spoke startling Daniel “How do they see?”  
“Huh?” Daniel glanced about trying to pinpoint where you were again, nosey child.  
“The ones that shoot lasers from their Optics…. eyes, whatever, how do they see? Or are they firing blind when they use it? Something like that would obscure their sight surely”  
“Oh” Daniel looked back at his screen, sitting up in bed “Y’know I never thought about that before…”

Ultra Magnus wore a worried look on his faceplates. At the very least he should try and be concerned about their situation even if Rodimus somehow managed to keep up his flippant demeanor.  
Arcee had returned, triumphantly dragging her unconscious prisoner behind her.  
She’d explained that he’d been snooping around the parameters before discovering the anomaly.  
Having fallen prey to the anomaly’s disorientating effects she knocked him out easily and brought him in.  
They were sure that if Cyclonus was creeping around there would surely be an entire party of Decepticons sneaking about. It was just surprising they’d managed to catch Cyclonus first.  
He had still not woken up yet and was suspended by a net in a holding cell.  
Magnus had inquired as to why these had been put into some of the prison cells only to be told it spared resources. Then again given the giggling happening while this was being said Magnus debated the truth of this statement. The net-beds had already been put in so he couldn’t argue, some parts of his job felt like a losing battle.  
The presence of the Decepticon had put everyone on high alert, the back-up generator they had been using had been given extra guards and patrols were increased. The main generator needed to be fixed soon, they were nowhere near full power with the back-up.

After a while of discussing the pro’s and con’s of using a “Spectronimal prism beam” against an enemy capable of manipulating darkness. Or some other ‘fantasy element’. Galvatron tried steering the conversation away from the cartoon the child was initially watching.  
“What was the purpose ‘coming dad’ called you for?” he cut through the cartoonish babble.  
“You mean my Dad?” The child corrected him. How insolent, wasn’t that what he said?.  
“Yes… Them… What was it?”  
“Oh…” The crestfallen look returned “My parents are thinking about sending me back to Earth, they’re worried I could be hurt by whatever’s going on…”  
“Oh?” Finally he was getting somewhere “What’s going on?”  
“Something weird happened when they were fighting yesterday and no one knows what it is or what’s happening and my mom and dad are already worried I’m ‘too affected’ by what I see already and think I should go to Earth”  
Well that wasn’t answering what he asked.  
“So you have no idea what’s going on? Then how do they know it’s dangerous enough to send you home if they don’t know what it is? I wonder if I might know what it is, what is it?” Galvatron snapped at him quite quickly hoping to get an answer before his patience really ran out.  
“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on there! I can get you’d be worried too, this could be dangerous for the both of us! But How about some give and take here, I’ll tell you something if you tell me your name! How about that?” Daniel crossed his arms.  
Galvatron clenched his fists, again with name! What was this organics problem? He was meant to be answering HIS questions! Not demanding answers from Galvatron!  
The child hadn’t relented and told him what he wanted to know yet.

Clutching at his helm in frustration Galvatron ran over names and words.  
What could he say to get the child to talk?  
No matter what he thought he always returned to his own name.  
Of course he would it was HIS name. Why would he go by any other?  
Gelv? Galv? No too obvious. Galvan? Galvas? Galvanise?  
“Rust!” Oh did he say that outloud? “Rust...less… Rust… lee… RUST-LEE! Call me Rust-Lee!”  
“Rust-Lee?” Daniel repeated him in a disbelieving manner “Really?”  
“Yes!” ‘Rust-lee’ snapped  
“How about I call you Rusty instead pal?”  
Ugh  
“No! Rust-lee is fine!”.


	11. Chapter 11

Cyclonus was slow to stir.  
His systems prevented a full start-up as his scanners searched for the cause of the strange weightless feeling.  
Deducing he was being held up in some form of shaky net, Cyclonus woke up completely without moving, the net was flimsy and he would topple out of it if he made any sudden movements.  
As per the usual right of capture he was in a prison cell, his internal chronometer calculated that it had been at least a full solar cycle since his capture.

Keeping track of his balance Cyclonus shifted slowly, keeping his balance he swung his legs to the floor and faced the bars of his cell.  
On the opposite side a short brown Mini-con watched him carefully.  
“G’day mate” It spat venomously with a thick Earth accent.  
Cyclonus responded with the deepest rumbling snarl his engines could muster.

==========

Meanwhile, after the disaster of trying to invent a name for himself ‘Rust-Lee’ had eventually been treated to some information of use.  
Daniel had told him that the anomaly was right above a power line to the main generator.  
Galvatron remembered that, it was part of the attack plan for that particular battle, one of the aims was to damage their generator.

 

The explosion that had supposedly caused the anomaly had damaged the power line.  
No Autobot could go near it, even if they wanted to, the strange ‘nothing’ caused by the explosion repelled everyone.  
The light of the garbage ship set the room with a dim glow, illuminating everyone inside.  
“That’s the third time this night” Daniel hummed as the ship’s glow ebbed away “I know there’s still a lot of old rubbish from fallen cities along the outskirts of this one but do they really have to try and move it all in one night. And now”  
Galvatron huffed in response.  
“Daniel” the adult male human known as ‘dad’ called “I hope you’re going to sleep in there”  
“Yes dad!” Daniel called back and sighed “Sorry Rust-Lee, I’d better try to get some sleep, maybe you should too, if you can sleep”  
“And why wouldn’t I be able to do this ‘sleep’?” Galvatron scoffed  
“Well I’unno… Lot’s of reasons I guess… You might not need to, I rarely see the Autobots sleep, uh, insomina? I think that’s what it’s called… too hungry to sleep, you might sleep in the day, or maybe nightmares…” Daniel seemed to linger on the last one.

 

Galvatron huffed  
“Well I don’t care for sleeping too much!”  
“Well, alright then, you can wake me up if you too bored y’know” the Daniel shuffled nervously as he pulled the sheets on his berth up over himself  
“Yes, yes fine”  
“But still, if you, uh, want to talk don’t hesitate to call me” Daniel prolonged his talking  
“Maybe” Galvatron responded flatly.

==========

Ultra Magnus was quick to sweep himself into the room and make himself look as imposing as possible.  
“Cyclonus” He barked out in a half-greeting half-snarl.  
Cyclonus did not dignify it with a response.  
“We have patrols out looking for the rest of your ‘team’ you can either tell them to give themselves up and make this easier or the more lengthy way” Magnus kept on going, his back straighter than the stick up his aft.  
Cyclonus snorted in response, if they wanted to believe he wasn’t alone fine, it could be worked to his advantage anyway.  
“Just why would I do that?” Cyclonus folded his arms and still refused to stand for Magnus.

Instead of reacting to his behaviour Magnus leaned closer to the bars  
“Because we have a common interest”  
Cyclonus froze.  
They found Galvatron.  
They must have, he had no interest in their petty problems, maybe if that anomaly of pure ‘nothing’ killed off all the Autobots then he’d be interested in it for it’s usefulness.  
But it was their problem.  
They must have found Galvatron.  
They know you’re here to get him back.  
A small smile curled at the edges of Cyclonus’s lip plates.  
They must know he’s here for Galvatron, and if it’s a common interest for Cyclonus to get Galvatron, well, he could only imagine the fuss and trauma Galvatron must’ve been causing.  
Brilliant.  
He wished he’d been there, maybe his previous mental image of the small purple streak charging through reams of Autobots became a reality.  
“Yes, judging by your smile you know we won’t harm you until we know your answer” Magnus huffed  
“Oh yes? Please, by all means finish” Cyclonus was having far too much fun imagining the small Galvatron trouncing their sorry afts.  
“Look Cyclonus, you’re one of the more reasonable Decepticons you can see reason” Magnus sighed “If anything capturing you was a stroke of luck on both our halves, I can’t imagine how much more trouble it would be if we captured your unreasonable leader. Not that he’d be stealthy at all”  
“If you want anything from me you’d better watch your accursed mouth scum!” Cyclonus barked loudly, his voice echoing off the walls as he snapped to his feet glaring at Magnus optic-to-optic with a furious gaze.

Magnus knew when not to push it and stepped back.  
With the Autobot showing a more submissive stance Cyclonus cooled off enough to realise.  
This meant they hadn’t found Galvatron.  
They really were going to ask him for help with the anomaly.  
“Look you and the Decepticons want Cybertron, that anomaly you saw could potentially destroy the planet, then we’d be fighting over a dead world and its remaining energy. Neither of us want that, I’m sure for the time being we can hold some form of agreement, at least until the Quintessons damage is fixed” Magnus continued when he felt the situation to be calm enough.  
“What if I refuse?” Cyclonus huffed, his wings twitching, he had hoped for something better than this.  
“Then we’ll keep you here, in this cell out the way, until we can decide what to do with you” Magnus replied, enticing another huff from Cyclonus.

 

“Fine” Cyclonus replied, he was left with little other choice.  
At least this way he could stay relatively mobile and keep a lookout for Galvatron.


	12. Chapter 12

Galvatron remained completely unaware of anything going on outside of the human's room.  
He flicked away a few notifications and alerts, not that he even bothered to read why his systems were sending them, and remained in the vent.  
Flat on his abdominal plates Galvatron continued to peer at the sleeping human child.  
Stupid organics.  
They needed to recharge so damn much.  
And for what?  
Those small fragile bodies?  
Pathetic.  
Even more pathetic when one couldn’t even keep it still.  
The small ‘Dan-ee-el’, what a stupid name, struggled in his recharge.  
He mumbled and whined, curled up and grasped at his pillow.  
Something was disturbing his recharge and Galvatron would be lying if he said he wasn’t entirely interested in what could be upsetting it so.  
The human jerked about in it’s bed, the sheets flying across the room as sleep fled from it.  
Daniel was pale as he sat bolt upright in his bed, human-coolant ran down his face as his fleshy ventilation system gulped down the air these organics were so fond of.  
This made it all the more fascinating for Galvatron who leaned closer to the vent, trying to hear what the human would say, what they might identify as the cause of the problem.  
“... G-galvatron…”

==========

Ultra Magnus had left to go discuss the result of their ‘conversation’ with the other Autobot ‘officials’.  
Cyclonus was left to do no more than stand patiently in his cell, thinking over his next move.  
It wouldn’t be worth the hassle of escaping, it would only put them on a higher alert and then Galvatron would be very much in trouble.  
He’d have to keep a tight lid on his true intentions and play along with the Autobots for now and help fix the anomaly.  
That might even lead to actually finding Galvatron too…  
He might’ve…  
No, that tight clenching feeling returned to put a metaphorical knot in his fuel tank.  
Cyclonus didn’t want to even consider Galvatron being trapped in that zone of complete literal nothingness.  
It would either drive him further into his helpless insanity, kill him or maybe Galvatron would end up finding some bizarre form of peace in that void.  
Almost anything seemed possible when he tried to do it.

Cyclonus turned to seat himself down on the net again  
“Don’t think of tryin’ anything funny” the heavily accented Mini-con had been replaced with a slightly smaller red one who had suddenly sprang up with his hand on his blaster.  
“Oh please” Cyclonus snorted  
“Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t trust the likes of you as far as I could throw Trypticon” Cliffjumper, Magnus had referred to him as, sneered still keeping his hand on the weapon.  
Trust issues, Cyclonus thought, this one reeked of it.  
Perfect.  
“That won’t matter, it’s not like you’ll find any of the others stationed nearby in time” Cyclonus returned the sneer.  
“WHAT!? I knew it! I knew no dirty hydro-weasel like you would show up without backup!” he raged.   
Cyclonus sat down and tried to hide his smirk this was all too amusing.  
In fact the only thing that stopped the Mini-con from spouting out his endless rage was the arrival of two humans.  
Cyclonus recognised them as the parental units to the infant human.  
“I’m surprised you’ve even been given a chance to explain yourself” The paternal unit spoke  
“I know right” Cliffjumper chimed in, the mere notion of someone agreeing with him was a energy boost all of it’s own.  
“Yes, well, If I even so much as see you near my son again! I swear I will dismantle you with a blunt spoon!”  
“How savage” Cyclonus rumbled in his dryest tone, the humans anger bouncing off him easily  
“You bet it will be! You can rust in hell for all I care! I’ll be glad to put you there myself! You hear me!?”  
“You are vocalising yourself adequately” Cyclonus continued his dry spell, it infuriated the human even more.  
How hilarious.  
Then the maternal unit human stepped up and put it’s hands upon the others shoulders  
“Now now Spike sweetie, you never got the hang of proper insults” she cooed.  
Now this would be interesting.  
Cyclonus perked up to hear what the female would say that she thought would possibly have any kind of effect on him.

The female human cleared her throat and Ultra Magnus walked in  
“Carly, Spike? I was wondering what was taking so long, I only told you to pass on the verdict” Magnus ceased the human's actions  
“Magnus! Magnus! He’s got his back up somewhere! They’re out there!” Cliffjumper proceeded to jump about in front of the bigger bot.  
“Yes Cliffjumper” Magnus sighed hiding his exasperation fairly well “We know he wouldn’t come here alone”  
“They’re going to attack us Magnus!” Cliffjumper continued to argue  
“That’s why we’ve made a small truce” Magnus sighed again only this time the irritation in his voice was audible  
“Truce!? With that!?” The Mini-con was practically bouncing  
“Cliffjumper please!” Magnus eventually snapped, shutting the Mini-con up.  
What a shame.  
Cyclonus had hoped to ‘play’ with them some more and he felt almost curious at exactly what threats the female had in store for him.  
Perhaps he should see about slipping a few choice words in when he can.  
If they’re more preoccupied with him, less focus would be put on the possibility of Galvatron being around.  
It seemed the humans were meant to tell him that he was to be taken to Rodimus to be told the terms of their ‘truce’.  
Magnus pulled out his own gun and gestured for Cyclonus to get up.  
Watched by angry eyes Cyclonus crept out of his cell and headed in the direction he was pointed.  
The humans and Mini-con were obviously angry at this verdict but shut up.

“Quite the friends you have” Cyclonus could feel the barrel of the gun pointed at his back.  
“I’ve met worse on your so-called ‘team’” Magnus said in a tone that just shouted ‘smug smile’.  
“Yes, well, we wouldn’t tolerate such disrespect from our own”  
“I’m sure you don’t”  
“ A good few lashings from a whip and they’ll obey”  
“Well we don’t tolerate that sort of thing here” Magnus pressed his weapon into Cyclonus’s back as they finished ‘talking’ outside of one of the many viewing stations on Cybertron.

The door opened and Cyclonus was marched inside, he recognised Rodimus Prime, Kup, their scientist Perceptor and around the edges of the room a few other Autobots stood, the only ones he cared to notice were the Dinobots.  
They could be a problem if anything were to happen now, especially in such a confined space.  
“Well this’ll be fun” Rodimus’s lack of interest in actual leadership work was always painfully obvious.  
“Better than nothing, literally” Kup waved his hand as if he were bored but at the same time his optics were that of a Mech who had thought out every possible scenario and for each one, every possible way of twisting an unfortunate Seekers wings inside out.  
“Rodimus, I think you should give the prisoner his verdict” Magnus had taken up a position more to the side of cyclonus but still battle ready.  
“What” Rodimus seemed taken aback “Oh, right, I wouldn’t trust you-”  
“As far as you could throw Trypticon, yes, so I’ve heard” Cyclonus interrupted much to Rodimus’s obvious irritation, the Prime managed a quick huff before continuing  
“We’ve decided you are to help Perceptor in figuring out a solution to the nothing-problem. Which is fine, the less I need to look at or be near it the better. You’ll be accompanied by a Dinobot wherever you go, no matter how short and when you are no longer needed or during periods when Perceptor here is recharging you’ll be put back in your cell. In return we’ll try not to kill you and you keep your team away from anything important until this is over. Then we part ways” Rodimus crossed his arms  
“Yes! I’ve been told you’re quite smart, for a Decepticon, maybe a outside view on the problem will be helpful! Even if there is… nothing but I’m sure that can be worked upon, it’s just not possible for there to be literally nothing after all there MUST be something occupying that anomaly” Perceptor perked up   
“Perceptor...”  
“Yes Prime?”  
“Shush”

With the scientist ‘shushed’ Magnus lead Cyclonus out of the room without a chance to speak.  
This was their final say on the subject and they weren't going to allow him any leeway whatsoever. The Dinobot with the long neck followed Magnus, clearly it was this one’s turn on duty.  
“Not even allowing me a chance to talk, how unfair” Cyclonus goaded  
“No chances are being made, not with the current issues” Magnus was swift to lock him back up.  
He was a step away from leaving the room when Cyclonus shook the bars with a firm grip, snapping both pairs of Autobot optics towards him  
“Just tell your scientist that if he manages another thinly veiled insult like that, I’ll personally go find it then weld him to this Unicron’s exhaust, got it?”

Magnus seemed the appropriate level of horrified as he nodded and scurried out the room as fast as he could.  
Now it was Cyclonus and this Dinobot.  
Sadly, it was too stupid for Cyclonus to play any mind games with. If only they had left him someone he could torment.

==========

Galvatron was somewhat stunned.  
The child had creaked out his real name with such candid fear it was impressive.  
It was wonderful.  
It was right.  
The child should fear him.  
He is GALVATRON.  
Everyone on his pathetic planet should fear him.  
The excitement put his cooling fans on high activity as his beaming grin spread over his entire face.  
How amazing.  
How deliciously delightful.  
It was perfect.  
Just what he wanted to hear.  
The day couldn’t be any better!  
He would just have to use this to his advantage soon.  
His gleeful thoughts were broken when the child had calmed down enough to speak again  
“Rust-Lee…. A-are you still here?” It was softly spoken and quiet but it was enough.  
Great now he had to act nice, what a way to spoil the fun.  
“Yes young one?” He pretended to care.  
“Oh good, you’re still here” the Daniel human ran his hands through his head-fur.  
“Of course I am”  
“Did you get any sleep?”  
“No, I do not need it” As if Galvatron would waste time with rest, he needed to examine this human for every conceivable weakness.  
“How… Lucky” Daniel looked down at his hands it was almost pitiful.  
Oh blast it, he’d have to ask wouldn’t he. Rolling his optics Galvatron peered back at the child  
“Why? What’s wrong?” he tried a nice cooing type of tone

The Daniel messed with his bed sheets some more groaning and grumbling before pressing the heel of his hand to his face and turning to the wall.  
“The nightmares were meant to stop, he said they would, he helped me! I just can’t sleep it’s always the same!”  
Galvatron could sympathize with him a little he supposed, recharge wasn’t always his best time either, but the human was making it a pathetically big deal.  
As far as Galvatron was concerned it was a victory for him to cause such fear in the Autobot’s pathetic little ‘pet’.  
“It’s always the same nightmare, it’s always Galvatron, I’ve had other Decepticons threaten me to my face with weapons and sure they scare me too, but I never have nightmares about them! And it always ends the same way too, that horrible… horrible… c-crushing feeling” Daniel pressed both of his hands into his face now.  
This was excellent news, the Decepticons seemed to actually be doing something right for once! Naturally Galvatron was clearly doing best.  
“Rodimus gave me advice, told me the nightmares would stop then” Daniel mumbled  
Hah.  
No wonder it failed, those pathetic Autobots can’t do anything right, even for their allies!  
“Oh my, what did this friend tell you?” this ought to be interesting.  
Daniel looked up over his hands a little and sniffed  
“H-he said that I should just imagine a big Autobot fighting and protecting me, that way Galvatron would never hurt me, no matter how bad the dream”

There was a moment of silence.

Galvatron could feel rage building.  
That was the most pathetic piece of advice he’d ever heard.  
Can’t the Autobots do ANYTHING right!?  
Clearly they couldn’t!  
And they’re the ones in charge of Cybertron!  
Pathetic!  
Stupid!  
Horrible!  
AGH!  
This was terrible, he never expected anything more than pathetic off an Autobot but this was just scraping the metaphorical barrel!  
“Rust-Lee are you okay?” Daniel asked, he must’ve made noise in his anger.  
He couldn’t help it this was so bad.  
Just one more thing HE could do better than them!  
“Of course not my boy! Your friend is utterly stupid!” Daniel looked a bit surprised and worried  
“No, he was trying to help!” He tried weakly to defend the pathetic Autobot that ‘helped’ him  
“By telling you to do the wrong thing!?! This is terrible! How could a friend do that to a friend!?” Galvatron continued to rage “Your friend is a moron!”  
“Yeah, well, what would you recommend then!?” Daniel got bolder, perfect.  
“I can suggest something better and far more useful than that!” Of course Galvatron could, he was Galvatron and he was better than these shoddy Autobots.  
“Go on then” Daniel had folded his arms and looked angry, excellent.  
“The problem is he told you to dream an Autobot fighting FOR you. That’ll never work! Never! He just made it worse telling you that! It’s YOUR dream and YOUR fear! No one will get rid of it but YOU hiding behind some pathetic dream-Autobot won’t to squat! YOU have to beat YOUR fear! You must conquer your own nightmare!” Galvatron kept it short, he wondered if he’d started shouting, he probably had, the thought of conquering usually got him riled up.  
“So what, you’re just suggesting I, a human, fight a giant Galvatron one-on-one in my dream?” Daniel scoffed.  
“Well, yeah, isn’t that what I just said? If you do that your nightmare will go, no more bad dreams! Courtesy of some better advice than what that Autobot told you!”  
The Daniel frowned, a little angrily but a little confused  
“That does make sense...” he conceded.  
“Of course it does!” Galvatron felt quite smug, he bested that pathetic excuse of a Prime without lifting a digit.   
Excellent.  
He watched the human flop back in it’s bed  
“If I have the nightmare again, I’ll try it, I mean it’s just a dream, I won’t really die!” He gazed at the ceiling a bit  
“Of course you won’t boy”  
“Yeah… Thanks Rust-Lee!” The human sounded chirpy again and rolled over in it’s bed.  
Of course it would have to be in his dreams, there’s no way this small human could actually beat him in reality.  
He was just proud to have crushed that useless Autobot with such ease.  
Stupid idiots can’t even help their friends.


End file.
